Challenge
Speed Run Probably the first kind of challenge invented for games, if not 100% Completion. Uncomplicated in principle. Get good at it, do it faster. However, in practice, nowadays players are so advanced at this that the only way to get faster is discover glitches in the game that cut out sections of the game, which can be very complicated. As with all turn-based games, Escape and Flee and other such commands are a mainstay of the Speed Run Challenge, since it almost always takes less time to run away than it does to finish a fight. Thus a Speedrun of LoD, as in many games, is also a Low Level game. Attack Items are very strong, so bosses are no problem, and they give lots of XP, so it is all down to the fine details straight away, like which chests to open to use or sell, when to equip the items obtained, and such. 100% Completion Do everything. You could extend this to seeing all the dialogue choices, or just see them here. The skill that guides are made for. Low Level :LL : The very lowest level that the player can or is willing to keep their characters The level can be lower, but if you want really low level fights, you have to GameShark it. However, it seems that probably won't be necessary: all players reporting low level runs are satisfied with the difficulty from the character level given by bosses. Juggling characters to spread XP around helps a little. Lavitz will always be level 3. Shana, 4. Rose, 8. Haschel, 13. Albert, the same level Lavitz was when he left. Meru 17, and Kongol 19.Miranda will always be the same level Shana was when she left. Bosses always give lots of XP, and the formula for it gives more XP to living characters outside the party if there are deaders in the party. So killing folks off doesn't work. With enemies in the game almost always spamming magic once they get to low HP, there is a large spike in difficulty at the end of each fight, if the player is "underleveled", as they would be in a "LL" Low Level challenge playthrough. Magic Shield is very helpful at this, since the timing is good. It kicks in right after the other repeat items start to wear off, Speed Up going first, Power Up second, maybe another item, and right before the enemy starts using magic attacks for big damage, Magic Shield. As the ratio of enemy power to player power increases, say in Low Level challenges, the line of where healing items become inadequate draws nearer. Shana pushes that line back; by the same token, at anytime in the game, the more healing Shana / Miranda does, the less space is required for healing items and the more space is available for Attack Items. 10% Accuracy doesn't seem like a big deal when your base is 100%. But if you find that enemy evasion is affected by level, or level differential, then first, come here and note it down, and then go buy three Sallets. There is no other male helm that gives Accuracy. Virulent Arrow looks stronger in a Low Level, No Item Challenge, too, where 10% might be decent damage. = Item = No Item :NI In Legend of Dragoon, this usually means No Attack Items; although surprisingly, some can manage a LoD playthrough with No Healing Items, even with No Dragoon. No Items is a big deal in most games, but especially in LoD, where most speed runs use them. Attack Items are the most powerful attack type, though, so it is a natural challenge. Just think, some of you who eschewed items: you've been playing a challenge game and didn't know it. No Attack Items is a great way to learn to appreciate Dragoon Magic again: Additions can't attack all enemies at once. If a no healing items run was to be achieved, then it might not be harder in the end game. With 150 SP per shot and an Arrow of Force making that 225, Miranda can shoot once and heal twice. The Clinics in towns make a No Items game eschewing medicine items much more viable. NI ND: Arm Blocking becomes a real threat, necessitating Escape No Repeat Item The Repeat Items are powerful, but a very tactical tool. = Equipment = Initial Equipment :IE is the equipment that characters have already on them when they join Dart's company, ranging from the four defense Clothes to the 46 defense Lion Fur, from the 2 Attack Broad Sword to the 45 Attack Axe. Somewhat abusable in LoD due to the way that characters join the party. Kongol's initial armor has more physical defense (DF) than the IE of all the other characters combined, and more magic defense (MDF) than Meru's. Meru is a Robe wearing magic user, but because she joins later, her initial armor has as much DF as Haschel's. and obviously way stronger in MDF. Haschel's IE has more DF than Dart's and Lavitz' combined. Rose's has more MDF than the two combined. It is still a challenge, but these things will skew it more than a little. No Offensive Equipment Initial Weapons Defensive Equipment Only Initial Weapons. No Bandit's no Dancer's No Defensive Equipment Initial armor. Accentuates the tension between doing damage and taking turns to heal = Skills = No Addition :NA Challenges can remove some of the challenge, and this is a prime example. Replace the opportunity to use timing skill with waiting patiently for the opportunity to be done with the battle. Additions are faster and can do more damage than Dragoons in a lot of cases, though, so it is definitely a challenge. And you still have access to healing items. Trouble is, of course, only Shana can gain SP without them, so it kind of goes hand in hand with No Dragoon. Initial Addition :IA Less limited, some SP gain. A little variable, but not as much as IE, with Dart' and Rose getting 200% damage and 35 SP, and everyone else except Meru getting 150% and 50 SP. Meru gets 150% and 34 SP. Still tests timing skill less. No Ultimate Addition Least limited. Subtle alteration that removes a lot of power and removes much less game play. No Dragoon :ND There are good reasons for and against this challenge. Obviously you can't have ND and no Healing Items either, or you should start a YouTube channel so we can all watch. Additions are strong, but Dragoons have a bit of strength and a lot of defense, which helps a LL game. = Revive = No Reviving :NR : This is not Hardcore Mode by any means. Hardcore is in its truest sense, starting the whole game over if you die. This is many degrees separated from that. Multiple characters, Save Points. But more to the point, characters killed last battle are revived with one HP in the Status screen or in the next battle. It does mean, though, that a battle hard enough for an ally to die in just got harder by about 50%, instead of stabilizing and moving forward. And if you see it on a video description, you know you won't have to sit through one of those games. = Other = Solo Let the other characters die or do it yourself, it has to be done. Dead characters are always revived at the start of battle with one hit point. Hardcore Every one of your characters is an essential character. Ignore them being resurrected next combat. Hardcore means starting the whole game over if you die. If there is an advantage to this that is not found in the normal game challenge of noting one's mistakes and striving to be better, it is not apparent. Curiousity Just for fun: New Weapon Play a team member until another gets a new weapon. There is a tie in Deningrad, with another rapid turnover in Kashua Glacier and Vellweb. Obviously this is as more of a good strategy than it is a difficulty. Of course there is no reason you have to buy or equip the new weapon, you could just use as a challenge, the rule that the team must be switched at those times (or other times of your choosing). Always Dragoon There is a drawback to Dragoon form that is seldom recognized: using Dragoon levels up XP just like normal form, but that is all. It does not even level up itself. However, this drawback does lead to a remarkably organic if mild form of challenge: always use Dragoon form if you can. Organic because you still use all the provided means at your disposal, but the more powerful ones are more limited. One could also extend it to a requirement of using Magic whenever possible, which is a challenge to inventory management to keep full on Magic Points. In order to keep from going Dragoon with all characters and preventing item use, pull your punches and leave Additions incomplete. The player may decide they want access to Special, allowing SP to accumulate until the third member has their bar, or even allowing the member of their choice to initiate the Special. Links * My Shot at a Dragoon Challenge * LLIENAND - thanks for the term, "Initial Addition", but none of the added strikes are used, and everyone else calls it, "No Addition" *Challenge LL IE NA NR NRI ND - Ongansan. Familiar name. . Category:Game mechanics